Devious Dilemma
by ellumina
Summary: He doesn’t mind helping her out though he has his own reasons. And though Tifa doesn’t mind his help, she minds his reasons. CloudxTifa Oneshot.


**Devious Dilemma**

When her eyes casually lifted and caught sight of wayward gold and twin oceans of blue, she stopped the startled yelp from pushing past her lips far more effectively than the shimmer of pink that hastened to stain her cheeks at his blatant fixation.

"When did you wake up?" The fluster was evident in her blurted words, a natural consequence to the scare he gave her when he stole his way into the kitchen to watch her while she worked.

Cloud brushed aside the question with a small smile and motioned to the tomatoes and onions and all the leafy, green things she had piled up on the counter, and Tifa, following his eyes, broke into a golden grin that did evil things to his heartbeat.

"Cid's bringing everyone over later," she explained and Cloud, a little surprised, nodded and made his way towards her, still eyeing the ingredients of an apparently exquisite meal with a hint of wariness he couldn't quite justify.

"I'll help you, Tifa."

She shook her head and smiled at him when he reached her side and brushed an absentminded kiss to her cheek, his eyes still hesitant to leave the colorful assortment of food that lined the kitchen counter.

"I'm fine, Cloud," she assured him and though he made no move to protest, he hovered a little around her, reluctant to move away, before settling for a decidedly less annoying stance against the counter a few feet from her.

The frown that hadn't quite left his face deepened a fraction and the muscles in his shoulders and arms slowly started tensing when Tifa picked up a sharp knife to chop green and red things Cloud didn't think he could identify. He fixed his eyes on her skilled hands, cast his gaze to the rest of the vegetables before bringing it back to the gleaming knife slicing and chopping away, and though Tifa worked with unparalleled skill, Cloud couldn't quite rid himself of the uneasy feeling churning inside him.

He watched, strangely troubled, the quick movements and flashes of steel and grew increasingly restless when Tifa finished chopping all the green vegetables and started slicing tomatoes.

Still working in quick, efficient strokes, she went through them swiftly, the knife almost a blur in her hands, unknowingly pushing Cloud into tensing up more. He tried to ignore it, to keep his fingers from curling into fists, but when she set the tomatoes aside, and reached for the onions, the tension peaked, and without realizing it, Cloud was approaching her, pressed forward by an inexplicable urge to stop her from going any further.

His hand closed over hers first, gentle but firm, stilling her movements and when she whipped her head around to look at him, a delicate brow raised in question, Cloud simply smiled and nudged her aside.

"I'll do it."

He spoke softly, but Tifa could detect an edge of finality that rendered any protest pointless. She held his eyes though, unsure of what to make of the fierce demand that glittered there.

"Cloud, I can handle it," she assured him slowly and watched as his grip on the knife tightened in response.

He said nothing but he tugged her away from the counter and took her position.

Tifa knew then that objecting, in any way, was futile and, sighing in defeat, she moved away to start making dessert, glancing in his direction every few seconds to make sure he was alright.

But Cloud was excessively focused on his task, and, she noted with amusement, hilariously awkward in his handling of the knife and, smiling at the image he made, Tifa uttered a silent sigh of relief figuring it would only be moments before her hero would simply give up and let her get back to work.

Cloud didn't.

He wrestled with onions and tears, inwardly cursing the vengeful vegetable in his hands and stubbornly reached for the next one even as he lifted a hand to brush at his burning eyes, scowling when a laughing Tifa stopped him with her fingers at his wrist.

"Don't," she warned lightly, "you'll just make it worse."

"I'm going blind, Tifa," Cloud muttered and she smiled, pulling him away from the counter to wipe his face with a clean dishtowel.

"I told you, Cloud," she pointed out with a slight smirk, taking a step back when he swatted at her hand and stubbornly picked another onion to chop. "I can handle it."

"I don't want you to."

Surprised by the stubborn attitude, she frowned at him and licked her lips before attempting to demonstrate reason.

"Cloud, I've been doing this for years, right?" she pointed out cautiously, and when he didn't answer, continued with a hint of wariness lining the soft tone of her voice. "It won't take me long to finish them and," she smiled a little hoping to reassure him, "I can handle the tears. I don't really mind them all that much."

He stilled for a moment, a frown tugging at his brow when he realized what it was that had been bothering him all along. He turned, offering her a pointed look that left her squirming in wary confusion and went back to work mumbling under his breath, "I do."

Stunned at the words her sharp senses barely picked up, she stood still for a lingering moment, dark eyes going wide and bright, then slowly stepped up behind him and hugged her arms around his waist.

"Turn around, Cloud," she mumbled, her words muffled slightly when she spoke them into his back.

Oblivious to the fact that she'd heard him, Cloud failed to understand why Tifa was reacting this way. Still, the smile spread slowly on his face, bordering on a grin, and he put the knife down for a minute to avoid hurting either of them, then turned around, very carefully, unwilling to remove himself from her warm embrace.

"Tifa?"

Tifa shifted only slightly when he turned to face her, lifting impatient arms to circle them around his neck. She held his brilliant, blue eyes pinned beneath her dreamy gaze then tipped her head up and laid her lips gently to the glistening moisture sliding down his cheek.

Cloud froze, curling his hands into tight fists to stop himself from touching her.

"What are you doing?" he murmured softly, and Tifa moved back, her fingers still lingering against either side of his face.

"Minding your tears," she grinned teasingly, and leaning in, she hugged his neck once again, and went back to work.


End file.
